scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 293
"Report—! General, twenty miles ahead is Wuhu County, Taiping Prefecture! Sun Zhaoyuan, the magistrate of Wuhu County, heard that our army arrived, and has closed the city! The vanguard, General Han Daren, asked for an order to bypass the city. Or attack the city?"

"Siege the city! After breaking the city, Sun Zhaoyuan's family will be executed! All officials in the city will be beheaded!"

Fatty Lu issued another door-killing order coldly. After the soldiers galloped away, Fatty Lu looked back at the main cavalry force of the Fatty Army galloping behind him, gritted his teeth, and ordered: "Order all the troops to speed up, After entering Wuhu City, rest again! Then pass the order to Wang Xu, he has no chance to rest, when the main force of our army arrives in Wuhu City, he will be the vanguard to attack Taiping Fucheng!"

The order was conveyed, and the Wu army, which was basically exhausted, sped up the speed again, people stepped up, horses whipped up, and marched eastward along the Jiangnan official road non-stop, turning a blind eye to the farmland, fruit forests, villages and markets passing by along the way. Just keep going east, east, and east again!The Jiangnan people on both sides of the road looked at this white-capped soldier without braids in horror. There were some who ran away secretly, some who talked a lot, but none who dared to stop this army from advancing eastward.

Of course, some people complained of suffering and tiredness, some were left behind, and some became deserters. Fatty Lu mercilessly massacred deserters and whipped the soldiers who fell behind, while telling the soldiers of the Wu army that we had no way out, and there were more than [-] full-dog troops. They are chasing and intercepting us. We have a sworn feud with Man Gou. We have killed so many Man Gou in the southwest and north of Jiangxi. Even if they surrender, Man Gou will not let us go!Falling behind is death, fleeing is death, resting in place is death, the only way to survive is to go east, to Nanjing City, and entering Nanjing City, not only can you survive, but you can also enjoy countless glory and wealth.

Strict military discipline and good military quality have helped Fatty Lu a lot. This Wu army team, which has a majority of soldiers from Yunnan and Guizhou, has received the strictest military training from the old traitor Wu since joining the Wu army, and also received the strictest military discipline. Constraints, after Fatty Lu took over the team, not only did he not relax the military discipline, but it became stricter, with heavy rewards and punishments, and clear rewards and punishments. This Wu army team created a miracle. From April [-]th to April [-]th, from Chizhou to April [-]th, the soldiers approached the city of Wuhu, [-] miles away, but there was not a single situation where the formation fell behind!
When it was completely dark, the main force of the Wu army finally arrived in Wuhu City, and the vanguard of the Wu army led by Han Daren had already rushed into Wuhu County. The Wuhu garrison, composed of only a few dozen yamen servants and more than 300 local township soldiers, naturally could not block the momentum. Wu Jun's footsteps like the rainbow.The head of Sun Zhaoyuan, the unlucky county magistrate who dared to close the city and resist, and his whole family have already been hung on the gate tower, to warn those shameless traitors who still want to continue to be dogs for Mangou!All the Qing officials, yamen servants, and town soldiers in the city were massacred by the Wu army. The corpses piled up under the city like a mountain, and their blood flowed like a river.

"The main force enters the city, collects grain, grass, mules and horses, rests overnight, and sets out tomorrow!" Fatty Lu shouted and ordered, "Remember, only the grain and grass in the official warehouse are allowed, and the grain of ordinary people is not allowed to touch! Mules and horses borrowed from the common people Donkeys, pigs and sheep, pay the price with military currency! Tell the people, let them take the military currency and exchange it for cash in Nanjing in a few days!"

The so-called military currency is naturally a common IOU in our era. In view of the urgent need for mules, horses and donkeys to carry food and grass and ride the wounded soldiers, and also urgently need pigs, sheep, fish and cattle to supplement nutrition for the soldiers, there is not much cash in hand. Fatty asked Wang Shaobo to carve seals out of radishes, found sheets of white paper to stamp, stamp and fill in numbers, and then stamped with Fatty Lu's private seal to become real gold and silver that can be circulated in the market—— If the common people and merchants dare not accept it, it will be an unforgivable capital crime to destroy the financial market of the Great Zhou Army!As for when to exchange it for cash, the soldiers of the Fatty Army of the Division of Benevolence and Righteousness also made it very clear, but it can be exchanged as soon as Wu Jun captures Nanjing!

After closing the city gates, a team of night duty teams were arranged. The Wu army soldiers immediately lay down on the streets and alleys of Wuhu City, falling asleep before they even had time to eat. The night team patrolled and rushed to make dry food , so that the next morning the soldiers will be full and continue on the road.However, Wang Xu's team didn't even have a chance to rest. They directly set fire to Taiping City, which was more than 40 miles away, at night, attacking this Taiping Mansion City, which didn't even know how many defenders there were, as the main force. The army opened the way.

Fortunately, like the previous cities, Taipingfu City is still an empty city without regular army guards, and the magistrate of Taipingfu, Huang Guizi Hanzhu, although he was a Qing Han Bannerman with his ancestral home in Liaodong, also once He has been praised by the Qing court many times for his good governance, but he is a bannerman who loves his own life very much.Therefore, when Wu Jun's vanguard soldiers approached the city, Huang Zhifu not only did not close the city, but opened the city gate at the first time, took his wife and children and fled to Nanjing, and Wang Xu's team rushed in without any hindrance. The city controlled the throat city on the eastward road of the main force of the Wu army.

At noon on April [-]th, the main force of the Wu army led by Fatty Lu arrived at the Taipingfu city. Wang Xu led the generals and sent officials out of the city to greet him. As soon as they met, Fatty Lu immediately asked Wang Xu, "Our navy has arrived. No? Any news from them?"

"Back to the general, our navy hasn't arrived yet." Wang Xu shook his head, and said, "In addition, according to the account of the Mangou officials, they have never seen our navy pass the Taipingfu River, but it happened on April [-]th. On the third day, a huge fleet of dogs passed by the Taipingfu River, but they did not dock or enter the city, and went directly upstream!"

"Is there a fleet full of dogs passing by Taiping Mansion and going directly upstream?" Fatty Lu turned pale, and hurriedly asked again: "How many warships and troops are there in that fleet of dogs, where did they come from?" army?"

"The general asked you something, answer!" Wang Xu pulled out a Qing official who had just cut his braids from behind, and introduced: "General, this is the co-prefect of the Taiping Mansion, called Jixuan. Last night he brought The yamen guarded the treasury to prevent the rioters from looting it, and it was not handed over until we entered the city."

"Well done, you have made a great contribution to our Great Zhou army. I declare that from now on, you will be the prefect of Taiping Prefecture." Fatty Lu patted the shoulder of Ji Xuan who was already trembling with fright in satisfaction. , and asked eagerly: "Tell me quickly, how many warships and how many troops passed by the dog fleet from Taiping Mansion on April [-]th, and where did they come from?"

"Back to the general, humble... I don't know about the lowly position." Ji Xuan said with a sad face: "The Qing Dynasty..., that dog-man fleet carried the flag of General Jiangning's Echu'e army gate, and passed through Taiping directly. The mansion, from where to where, how many troops are there, low-ranking officials and low-ranking officials, I dare not ask. I only know that they have a lot of ships, maybe four to five hundred."

"Where are so many warships coming out of Mangou?" Fatty Lu was really taken aback.

"It's bad." Gao Dejie also gritted his teeth and said: "If there are no accidents, General Li Guodong must have encountered this full dog fleet, which is why he has not yet arrived at Taiping Mansion. Otherwise, we should move by water Li Guodong arrived at Taiping Mansion at least one day earlier than us."

"This is the only explanation." Han Daren nodded, and then asked Fatty Lu worriedly: "General, the plan to join forces with the navy has been delayed, and most of our ammunition and weapons are on the navy fleet. What to do next?"

Under the eyes of everyone, Fatty Lu walked around in circles with his hands behind his back, gritted his teeth, and shouted: "Wang Xu, you lead five thousand troops to stay in Taiping Mansion and continue to wait for Li Guodong's naval fleet. Leave everything to you to take care of, the rest of the team, continue eastward, and must reach the city of Nanjing before sunset tomorrow!"

"Brother Lu, our ammunition and siege artillery are still on the navy ship, and we don't have siege weapons, just in case..." Gao Dejie reminded worriedly.

"There's no time!" Fatty Lu waved his hand resolutely, and shouted: "Our army has rushed thousands of miles to attack Nanjing City. Every minute and every second of time is extremely precious. We can't wait any longer. No matter what the situation of the naval army is, we must Immediately advance to Nanjing City! Otherwise, once the Mangou army comes to their senses and sends reinforcements to Nanjing City, it will be as difficult as going to heaven if they want to break through Nanjing!"

Gao Dejie, Han Daren and other generals nodded together, and said: "The general is right, the only hope now is that friend who has a lifelong friendship with you, general."

"Fateful friendship?" Fatty Lu smiled wryly in his heart, thinking that if Lao Tzu and Xie Dong, who had only met once and passed a few letters, could count as fateful friendship, then Lao Tzu and Kang Mazi could be regarded as childhood sweethearts and childhood sweethearts.But when things got to this point, Fatty Lu had no other choice. He just shouted: "Brother Dajie, the next step is to be a pioneer! Taiping Mansion is 150 miles away from Nanjing City, and it's a quarter to two in the afternoon. Before this hour tomorrow, your cavalry team must come to the city of Nanjing for me!"

"Deling!" Gao Dejie clasped his fists, agreed loudly, and hurriedly led the cavalry away.Fatty Lu mounted his horse again, bowed his hands to Wang Xu as a farewell, then pulled out his waist knife, pointed it towards Nanjing in the northeast, and shouted: "The wounded soldiers stay, the whole army advances, and tomorrow the sun will set." Before that, soldiers came to the city of Nanjing! Great Zhou——!"

"Great Zhou—!" Amid thunderous shouts, the remaining [-] soldiers of the Wu army stepped forward again, lined up neatly, and galloped towards Nanjing again along the wide official road.

"Brother Xie, I'm counting on you! Li Ya, Liu Zhen, Liu Xu, Shen Xin, I'm counting on you too."

Of course, Fatty Lu understood what he was doing, but for his own territory and to completely get rid of the control of the old traitor Wu, and for the great cause of rejuvenating the Han Dynasty and destroying the Manchus and expelling the Tartars, Fatty Lu had no other choice.Fortunately, Fatty Lu also considered the possibility that Xie Dong would not act as an internal response, so besides Xie Dong, Fatty Lu still has a fallback. Although this fallback is not absolutely safe, it is somewhat hopeful. I have thought about it......

Tiangong refused to be beautiful, so he left Taipingfu City and walked northeastward for less than five miles. After a gloomy morning, light rain began to fall in the sky. The rain gradually intensified, and the ground gradually became muddy and slippery. , It added many difficulties to the march of Wu Jun's main infantry and cavalry soldiers.It was also in the midst of the wind and rain that Fatty Lu was full of pride, and he couldn't help singing, "A big road leads to my house. My family lives at the foot of Liang Mountain. There are five acres of fertile land under the mountain, and five acres of fertile land." What...?"

"Who will remember my appearance, who will remember my injuries, whose desires and whose battlefields will make us all deviate from kindness...?"

"When will I be able to return to my hometown? When will I be able to see her red makeup? I will cut off my eyes with a long sword? I will be so homesick!"

Driven by Fatty Lu, [-] generals and soldiers of the Wu Army sang this catchy song, which was full of heroic fighting spirit and praising life. The most widely circulated military song among the troops was repeatedly sung by the soldiers of the Fatty Army, which also made the soldiers of the Fatty Army gradually forget the wind and rain, and gradually forget the exhaustion of running for thousands of miles.

........................

Contrary to the generals and soldiers of the Fatty Army who still maintained high morale in the wind and rain, that night, when the news that the Fatty Army had captured Taiping City and was still advancing at full speed towards Nanjing was finally transmitted back to Nanjing City, all the people in Nanjing City were shocked. The officials of the Qing Dynasty and the army and civilians in the city suddenly fell into chaos. The people in the suburbs outside the city flocked desperately into the city to escape, while the Han and Manchu people in the city flocked to the city to flee for their lives. There were crowds of people in front of them, all of them were crowded with the fleeing common people, and it was a mess.

Because the main force of the defenders had been sent to Anqing before, there were only 35.267 defenders left in the city of Nanjing. If they wanted to guard the seventy-mile-long Nanjing City Wall ([-] kilometers), the force would inevitably be very stretched.As a last resort, the governor of Liangjiang in Nanjing, A Xixu, could only send people to ask for help from the surrounding Qing army, and at the same time listened to Mu Tianyan and Xie Dong's advice, ordering the people in the city to enter and not to leave, so as to organize the people to go to the city after the war Assist in the battle and make up for the weakness of insufficient troops.

The idea is a good idea, but unfortunately, after A Xixu's announcement was published and implemented in place, the city of Nanjing, which has not experienced war for nearly 30 years, became even more chaotic. The people eager to escape from the city clashed with the defenders, and the local hooligans took advantage of the fire to loot. Murder, arson, robbery, and rape are all kinds of crimes. The officials and servants of the big and small yamen in Nanjing city were dispatched together, but they couldn't maintain the order in the market. A Xixu was so anxious that he cursed, but there was nothing he could do.

It was also at this time, taking advantage of Mu Tianyan's absence, Xie Dong, the prefect of Jiangning, took the opportunity to suggest to Ashish: "My lord, why don't you let General Erchu's deputy, General Halhaqi, lead the army to maintain order? The situation in the city is stable, and then the humble officials can organize the people to go to the city to help in the war."

"It's a good idea, but General Halehazi is repairing the city wall and strengthening the city defense..." Ashish hesitated.

"This is easy." Xie Dong said relaxedly: "Your Excellency, have you forgotten the new army recruited by the lowly position? Although the nearly [-] new troops recruited by the lowly level have not been trained, cannot go into battle, and have no experience in maintaining order, they can do something. There is no problem with hard work, such as repairing the city wall and transporting supplies for the defense of the city, the low-ranking new army is fully capable. The Governor only needs to send a section of the defenders on the city wall into the city to maintain order and let the new army go to the city Consolidate the city defense, so that there will be no delay."

"Great idea, then go and organize your new army to go to the city." Ashish said happily: "All your new army will be sent to the Shicheng Gate area, and the troops there will be replaced to maintain order in the city. Qingliangmen , The section of the city wall from Shicheng Gate to Sanshan Gate, I will leave it to you. The walls that need to be repaired must be repaired, and the fortifications that need to be strengthened. Thank you for your credit." Xie Dong was overjoyed, and hurriedly agreed, hurried out to the barracks in the city, and organized new troops to change defenses at the Shicheng Gate.

With the regular army with strong combat effectiveness and strict military discipline entering the city to maintain order, the order in Nanjing has indeed been greatly improved. At least those people who want to escape from the city are hooligans who dare not fight with the defenders and take advantage of the fire Also began to converge.At the same time, after the new army organized by Xie Dong took over the wall section of the Shicheng Gate, they also started repairing the city wall, repairing the city defense, and transporting and hoarding a large number of defense supplies. A Xixu was overjoyed when he heard the news and praised Xie Dong several times. This sentence means that Xie Dong must be rewarded heavily in the future, but Xie Dong thanked him without mentioning it.

The night passed quickly, and in the morning of the next day, A Xixu led the governor Mu Tianyan, the inspector Chen Bingzhi, and the defender Hall Haqi and other civil and military officials to the city wall to inspect the four sides of the city defense. Gate City section, and then all the way to the west, gradually came to the Shichengmen area under the charge of the new army.It was also at this time that Ashish, Halle Haqi and the others suddenly discovered to their surprise that this new army had taken the initiative to go down to the city to dredge the moat without orders, and dug through several river channels that were blocked by earth and rocks. This allowed the Qinhuai River to fill the moat, greatly enhancing the defense capability of this section of the city wall.

"Good job, who said to dredge the moat?" Ashish asked happily.

"Go back to the governor, it was suggested by the villain." The recruits pushed each other, and a recruit dressed in the uniform of a Qing army sentry officer stood up, knelt down on one knee and cupped his fists and replied in a very standard way: "The villain has a small battlefield." Experience, found that the river was blocked, worried that Wu Gou would go to the city from now on, so he proposed to the magistrate to dredge the river, and with the magistrate's permission, the villain organized the brothers to do it overnight."

"Do you have experience in the battlefield?" Deputy Commander Halle Haqi stepped forward and grabbed the right hand of the chief whistler, and found that his right hand was full of calluses, which were obviously worn out by holding a knife for many years and beating people.Halle Haqi couldn't help being overjoyed, and hurriedly asked: "What's your name? Have you been a soldier there?"

"General, the villain's surname is Li Mingya, and he is from Changsha, a fellow of the prefect Xie." Li Ya replied respectfully: "The villain was originally in the army under the governor of Huguang, Cai Yurong, and served as a sentry officer. , the villain failed to cross the river with the army, and was unwilling to surrender to Wugou, so he changed into civilian clothes and fled Wuchang, living among the people. Later, the villain heard that Mr. Xie, a fellow villager, was an official in Jiangning, so he went to work on a civilian boat , along with private merchant ships all the way to Jiangning to join Mr. Xie."

"Your Excellency, General Ha, this Li Ya has some distant relatives with me." Xie Dong also explained: "When he came to Jiangning to join me, it happened that Lord A ordered the recruitment of new troops. He was arranged to serve as the head of the post in the new army, and let him serve the imperial court again."

"Okay, very good." Halhazi was even more joyful, and turned to Ashish to suggest: "My lord governor, what we lack most now are experienced veterans. This Li Ya is not bad. According to the general's opinion, let him Being a sentry chief is too wronged, we should allow veterans like him to bring in more recruits, so that our new army can improve quickly."

"Yes." A Xixu nodded in satisfaction, and said: "How about this, Li Ya, the governor will reward you with a thousand generals first, and lead a thousand recruits to assist General Halehaqi in defending the city."

"The last general Xie Ha for cultivation!" Li Ya hurriedly kowtowed his head in thanks, "The last general Xie Ha for cultivation."

Axixu, Halehaqi and the others smiled and got Li Ya up, praised and encouraged Li Ya a few more words, and then led all the officials to Qingliangmen in the north to continue their inspection. However, before leaving, Jiangning Governor Mu Tian Yan suddenly turned around, looked at Xie Dong and Li Ya with a half-smile, and continued to follow A Xixu and the others without saying a word.Seeing the weird smile on Mu Tianyan's face, Xie Dong almost broke out in a cold sweat. As soon as A Xixu and the others walked away, Li Ya complained in a low voice: "Are you crazy? Why do you want to show off at this time?" ? Let others notice you?"

"It's not me." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "Someone pushed me out, and I was frightened into a cold sweat. I just wanted to behave casually so as not to be driven off the city wall, but I didn't expect them to notice .”

"I hope Mr. Mu won't be suspicious." Xie Dong muttered in a low voice, "I'm not afraid of anyone else now, but Mr. Mu. He knows my details."

Fortunately, Mu Tianyan didn't seem to have any doubts about Xie Dong's reuse of Li Ya. On the way to accompany A Xixu and others to inspect the city defense, she never mentioned a word about it.And when Xie Dong waited in fear until noon, the vanguard of the Wu army led by Gao Dejie finally arrived in Nanjing, along the official road all the way to the Jubao Gate (Zhonghua Gate) in the south of Nanjing, with the military flag fluttering, the city of Nanjing was in chaos At that time, Qing troops from all walks of life frantically rushed to the city wall, with their bows and arrows waiting in full battle, waiting for the Wu army to attack the city.But Gao Dejie was not in a hurry to attack the city. He just let the cavalry of the Wu army rest for a while, and then led the team to patrol the city defenses along the city, looking for breakthrough points that could attack the city.

At this time, Xie Dong once again boarded the Shicheng Gate in charge of the new army, and after meeting Li Ya again, Xie Dong whispered, "Have you sent your messenger?"

"It has been dispatched a long time ago." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "There is no accident, he should also get in touch with General Gao now, and we can do it as soon as our main force arrives."

"That's good, be careful." Xie Dong said in a low voice: "Ah Xixu has not arranged for me to defend the city so far. I guess he wants me to be in charge of logistics in the city. Your main force will arrive in a while. If I was assigned to the city, and the rest is up to you."

"My lord, please don't worry." Li Ya replied in a low voice: "Our people are all ready, and we can act immediately when the main force arrives."

Xie Dong nodded, and when he was about to leave, a messenger came rushing over and said to Xie Dong, "Master Xie, the governor please go to the tower of Jubao Gate immediately, the governor is going to hold a city defense meeting."

"Okay, I'll go right away." Xie Dong nodded in agreement.

"Master Xie, the governor has given you a special order to ask your fellow countryman, Li Ya, the new chief executive, to go with you." The orderly added.

"I...?" Li Ya froze, and when he and Xie Dong looked at each other, they both saw the look of horror in each other's eyes, and then a thought arose in their hearts, "Could it be that this matter is going to fail? ?”

(End of this chapter)